"It's not all hopeless, Onii-chan."
Ranma looked at Yumi. "What do you mean?"
"Well, there's a group willing to take us all into their service," Yumi replied, she indicating the Tendou sisters as well.
The mamluk's eyes widened with surprise. "All of us?!" After Yumi nodded, he then asked, "Who?!"
Before Yumi could answer, Kasumi perked. "Ah, our Mistress have arrived!"
Ranma blinked on hearing the elder Tendou daughter refer to his future owner as "mistress," and then his own combat training clicked in on his ears' hearing the sound of a horse-drawn carriage coming to a stop by the front gate. Rising, he walked over to the doorway of the dojo to see Souun and Genma walk out from the main house, they heading to the gate just as a doorbell pealed. "Ranma-san," Kasumi called out. "Don't stand there. Please sit with us. Let our fathers receive Mistress first. When we're needed, we'll be called for."
Ranma gazed curiously at the elder Tendou daughter for a moment, and then his ears perked on hearing the gate open...
"Susumu-koosama," Souun intoned respectfully with a deep bow. "You honour this unworthy man's home with your divine presence."
An amused titter escaped the teenage girl in the lovely kimono now standing before him. With long raven hair tied in a thick French braid reaching down past her waist and stormy grey eyes currently behind round-frame reading glasses, one wouldn't, at first, suspect this lady to be nothing more than your average first-year senior high school student. Looks were deceiving. VERY deceiving.
She returned Souun's greeting with a courteous nod. "Tendou-dono, I'm pleased to have come." Her eyes then fell on Genma. "Saotome-sensei. It is good to meet you at last. I assume that if you're here with your friend, your son is with you?"
Genma bowed. "He is in the dojo as we speak, Kooshaku-sama," he reported. "He is prepared to serve you."
"Excellent. Well, let's get this over with, shall we?"
"Hai!" the older men replied as they turned to escort their visitor to the main house.
The visitor flicked a glance at one of the two women who had come with her from the Imperial Diet. "Mai-chan, ensure our privacy."
"Hai, Kooshaku-sama," the strawberry-blonde teenager in the white, cherry-blossom pattern kimono replied...
"Who is that, anyway?" Ranma whispered.
Yumi had come up to stand beside her "brother." Kasumi's pleas for both Saotomes to come away from the dojo door had fallen on deaf ears. "Susumu Marie. Korean name: Hwa Kukhoe," the native Saotome whispered back as Souun and Genma preceded Marie to the main house. "Marchioness of the Dual Empires. No fixed constituency, of course. It means she holds seats in both the Imperial House of Peers..."
"And the Imperial House of Worthies in Seoul," Ranma finished for his "sister," his mind digesting that information to quickly form an initial analysis of his new mistress' security situation. A marquis/marchioness -- kooshaku in Japanese, hujak in Korean -- of the Dual Empires was a direct public servant of Their Imperial Majesties, the Emperor Akihito and the Emperor Soukjong. In essence, they were roving government troubleshooters, people who were dispatched by Their Majesties to ensure the many century-old bonds connecting the Japanese and Korean Empires would remain intact in face of strong nationalist/isolationist sentiments which often blossomed into violence among the far right-wing conservatives in both countries. Fortunately, such morons were a very small minority in the Dual Empires.
But it only took one, Ranma ruefully mused...
"And the two servants?" he then asked.
"The one with Marie-sama right now is Ami," Yumi replied. "She's Marie-sama's personal administrative assistant. Don't know the whole story behind her, but she supposedly has a fixed term of service with Marie-sama, just like you and I'll have. I don't know who the other girl, the one outside the gate now, is. I think she might be a mamluk serving one of Marie-sama's sisters or her brother."
Ranma blinked. "Sisters? Brother?"
"Marie-sama is the third of twelve granddaughters of the late Princess Hana Nagaiwakai. There's also a grandson," Yumi explained as Souun, Genma, Marie and Ami stepped into the main house. "Nagaiwakai-sama's mother, Princess Hana Kimaenowakai, was the one who teamed with Master Hosan to arrange the original Treaties of Imperial Alliance between Emperor Meiji and Emperor Kojong back in 1905. Marie-sama's elder sister, Princess Sakuya, is the direct heir to Nagaiwakai's seats in the Joint Privy Council. Marie-sama herself, when she's not acting as a personal emissary to Their Majesties, normally acts as Sakuya-sama's mouthpiece in the House of Peers and the House of Worthies."
"Meaning a lot of travel between Tokyo and Seoul," Ranma mused.
Yumi nodded. "And beyond..."
"Will this be enough to ensure the debt you have with Monsieur Chardin is properly repaid, Tendou-dono?"
Souun gazed on the piece of paper just handed to him by Ami at Marie's command. Noting the amount of money soon to be handed to him from the Imperial Bank of Japan, he slowly nodded. While his eyes still glistened with tears at what his foolishness would cost all his children in terms of their freedom, the fact that the young marchioness had come along to assist him ultimately meant that in no way would any of his children fall prey to that creature, to say anything of his equally monstrous teacher. "Hai, Susumu-koosama, this is more than sufficient," he replied, placing the paper down on the coffee table. "While I would have wished that things hadn't gone this far..."
"You're lucky that His Majesty made mention of Tatewaki-kun's..." -- the sarcasm just flowing in torrents from Marie's mouth on her speaking the honorific -- "...profound 'interest' in your youngest daughter to my sister Sakuya some weeks ago." A deep breath. "While we try our best to ensure that slavery in the Empires is properly regulated, abuses of this nature happen all the time. Sometimes in ways that would simply astound you. Trying to stay atop it is nearly a full-time task for those of the Peers and the Worthies directed by the Privy Council to deal with this matter. And we all have other duties to concern ourselves with, especially concerning those such as I."
"To believe the fool is deluding himself into believing that he is actually behaving properly in the presence of his 'equals,'" Ami mused, her hand reaching up to cover her mouth as a polite giggle escaped her.
Marie smirked. Souun and Genma were both surprised to see how much leeway the marchioness was willing to allow her servant to express herself, especially in the presence of strangers. "Indeed," Marie then replied. "Ami-chan, remind me to speak to Kunou-dan when I'm next in the House of Peers. If I can, I'll persuade him to declare his daughter Kodachi as his successor, not Tatewaki."
"I will do so, Marie-sama," Ami vowed, she bowing automatically.
"Susumu-koosama, you're very lenient with your servant here," Souun noted.
Marie smirked. "Tendou-dono, I look on Ami-chan not just as my personal assistant, but also as my friend." Ami was quick to fight down the urge to make a face in front of her mistress' host. "Friend" would not even come close to fully describing their relationship; after all, Ami was a full-use slave. "And yes, before you ask, this is the way I will also treat your daughters as well as Ranma-kun and Yumiko-chan." She gave Genma a brief glance before turning back to her host. "In my eyes, that is the best way to treat one's servants. Look at all the troubles the southern provinces of the North American Confederation had to deal with over the last few centuries. Yes, there are certain limits Ami-chan can't cross. She knows that and I know that, too. But beyond that, I think there is simply no reason to act like a barbaric ogre when it comes to dealing with one's servants." She pointed to herself. "As a matter of fact, several of my peers in the noble Houses which I am a but a humble member of have come to me for advice in dealing with their own servants."
Genma laughed. "I'm glad to see there are such forward-thinking people amongst our leadership," he declared before he gave Marie a knowing wink. "And be assured, Susumu-koosama, if the unfortunate happening befalls you where you might face a rebellious slave even after you've shown him or her such kindness, you have both my son and my 'daughter' to fall back on to ensure you remain whole and healthy."
Marie blushed. "Thank you, Saotome-sensei. Well, now that's been taken care of, what say we ask everyone else to come join us."
"I'll fetch them right now, Marie-sama," Ami vowed as she rose to step out...
A half-hour later...
Susumu Marie had seen pictures of Saotome Ranma. They had been automatically sent to her from Souun when the question of her acquiring a properly-trained mamluk had first come up during the negotiations concerning his daughters. Those had been sent to Souun by Genma over the years as the latter took his son all over the Dual Empires and beyond to see him properly trained as per Tendou Kimiko's wishes.
There was only one thing she could say now:
"Your pictures, Ranma-kun, do not, in the very least, do you justice!"
Ranma's cheeks instantly reddened as stifled giggles escaped Yumi and the Tendou sisters, they currently seated behind him. Genma and Souun had retreated from the room after the papers had been signed and stamped to give the marchioness some privacy with her new servants. Ami herself had taken the papers with her to the ward office to ensure they were duly filed with the authorities. Once she returned, they would all head to Marie's primary residence, Hana-jou (Hana Castle), on Rishiri-tou, located off the northwest coast of Hokkaido.
"Um...!" escaped Ranma before he started to stutter.
For all his training as a mamluk, he wasn't prepared for something like this!
Marie moved to calm him down. "Oh, please, Ranma-kun! Relax!" On seeing the mamluk's cheeks losing their colour, she carried on, "We're going to be together for the next five years, so let's try not to get off on the wrong foot. Can we do that?"
"I'll try, Marie-sama," he vowed as we...
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(Posted Sat, 26 Mar 2005 07:37)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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